


Courted

by Catsafari



Category: The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows - Stiles/Drewe/Grahame
Genre: Fluff, Humour, M/M, Mrs Otter - Freeform, Romance, as much as an aroace couple written by an aroace can be, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:29:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29555664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catsafari/pseuds/Catsafari
Summary: There were some key social differences between an underground animal and a Riverbanker, but it had never occurred to Rat that relationship milestones might just be one such example. He probably shouldn't have realised this in the middle of refereeing a squash match though. / Set in the 2017 musical.
Relationships: Mole/Rat (Wind in the Willows)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Courted

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Many thanks to jeremystollemyheart/dontbecattyratty and rainbowrat for encouraging and enabling this idea that originated as "what if riverbankers and underground animals have different dating norms, and moving in with another animal is a big deal in underground society so Mole thinks they're dating but Rat has no idea?" and Mole's two mothers are a headcanon created by jeremystollemyheart. It's a few days after Valentine's Day, but since this is the closest I've gotten to writing classic shipping fluff for this ship, let's pretend this was an intentional Valentines fic. :)
> 
> (For anyone who has also read my TCR fics, this story carries shades of Bridenapped, because apparently clumsy relationship revelations a la differing social norms are my jam.)

It was a beautiful summer day along the Riverbank and Rat was not enjoying a moment of it.

He leant across to his fellow referee and muttered, "When does squash end?"

"When one of them has a two-point lead on the other after reaching 11 points," Mrs Otter replied tiredly. There was a kerfuffle on the court below as the ball went flying out of the court and Portia — the assigned Ball Animal — was sent running to retrieve it. "26-27," Mrs Otter called out, "to Mole."

Both the otter and the water rat watched from their perches — Toad had assured them they were referee seats, but they looked more like lifeguard chairs — and Rat sunk further into his, trying not to think how he was wasting a glorious summer day playing arbitrator to Toad's newest fad. "It's quite impressive really," he said in a tone that sounded anything but impressed, "how they're both so equally terrible at this game."

"You'd think Mole would have thrown the match by now— 27 all!"

"Mole wouldn't do that," Rat said. "He's having too much fun."

"Fun for him, maybe," Mrs Otter grumbled.

"You can always volunteer to be Toad's next opponent, you know."

"No thanks. I run round enough after my pups; you younger animals can chase a squash ball round a court for fun. 27-28, to Mole!"

"That was in!" Toad spluttered.

"It was below the tin!" Rat called. "Mole's point!"

"Maybe we should just declare the next point Mole's too," Mrs Otter suggested.

A moment later, Mole smacked the squash ball straight out of the court and into the duck pond.

"Good luck with that," Rat said after a beat. "28 all!"

There was a brief moment of respite while Portia and both players went to locate the wayward ball, and the resulting peace gave Rat a chance to consider other, non-squash subjects. "Mrs Otter," he said eventually, "would you consider me a particularly _forward_ animal?"

"In what way?"

Rat hesitated. "As in a ' _moving too fast through a relationship_ ' kind of way."

Mrs Otter snorted, and then seemed to realise he was being serious. "Oh. Not... exactly, no. What makes you ask?"

"Do you remember when I went with Mole to visit his mothers?"

"Do I remember the week when just me and Badger were left to curb Toad's shenanigans without you and Mole?" Mrs Otter asked.

"Stupid question, I suppose."

"No. Just obvious. Why? What happened? I thought you said his mothers were lovely."

"They were," Rat replied. "But then we started discussing how Mole and I met, and I mentioned how I had invited Mole to stay over for the night after the picnic."

"Oh, was he only meant to stay the one night?"

"Oh hush, Mrs O," Rat muttered, fully aware that things had escalated somewhat from that fateful first meeting. "Anyway, after that, one of his mothers said, 'After only a day? How _forward_ ,' and I think she _winked_ at her wife."

There was a pause as both animals considered this.

"You know, underground animals do have a slightly different etiquette to us," Mrs Otter said. "Maybe it is forward to them. Then again — inviting someone to live with you after one meeting can be considered forward, even for us Riverbankers."

"It was late and he needed somewhere to stay," Rat grumbled. "What was I meant to do — leave him on his own? It wasn't meant to be forward; it was _meant_ to be good manners."

"How long does someone have to stay until it shifts from good manners to bring forward?"

"One day, according to Mole's mothers," Rat mumbled.

"Well, do you _want_ to be forward?" Mrs Otter asked. "I suppose that's the real question, otherwise you wouldn't still be pondering it."

"I don't know."

"Ah. Good to see you know your mind."

"Don't tease."

"Excuse me!" On the court, Toad waved an arm, somehow instinctively knowing he wasn't the centre of attention. " _Excuse me_ , but we're ready to continue play and you need to watch us, referees."

For once in his life, Rat was almost relieved for Toad's dramatics. "We're watching, Toad!"

"You weren't. You were talking!"

"We're watching now," Mrs Otter called. She leant over to Rat. "Any clue what the score was?"

"Does it matter?"

"Suppose not. They were probably drawing." Louder, she called, "27 all!" and when there came no complaint from the court, she turned her attention back to Rat. "So?"

"So what?"

She fixed him with a glare that implied she had dealt with too many verbally tricky pups to be derailed that easily. "So are you going to answer my previous question or will I have to rephrase it in such a way to make it obvious to everyone what we're discussing?"

There was a pause, punctuated by the squash ball ricocheting off the court wall. "27-28, to Toad!" Mrs Otter called, barely breaking her stare. "So?"

Rat shifted self-consciously in his seat, knowing full well that once Mrs Otter set her mind to something, nothing could deter her. But what he and Mole shared was something he didn't know quite how to define. Not quite friendship and not quite romance, but something settled comfortably between the two. And in the days, weeks, _seasons_ they had spent together, their relationship had taken root in that strange middle ground that could not be so easily named.

"It'd be easier to answer that," Rat said honestly, "if I knew where we stood now."

"Well, I suppose there's one way to solve this," Mrs Otter said. "Ask him."

"How am I meant to ask him what our relationship is?"

"Like this."

"Oh no."

Mrs Otter balanced herself to a feet — not an easy feat atop the raised referee seat — and hollered, "MOLE! WHAT'S YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH RAT?"

Toad had to duck at the speed in which Mole sent the squash ball flying.

 _28 all_ , a distant part of Rat's mind noted.

Mole spun to the two referees with evident confusion and called out, as though it were obvious, "We're courting!"

Rat didn't fall off his seat, but it was a close-run thing. "What?" he demanded. "Since when?"

"Since you invited me to stay with you?" Mole shouted back, equally bewildered.

"You never asked me!"

"No, _you_ did!"

"I did no such thing—"

"You invited me to stay with you!"

"That's not the same thing!"

"It is for underground animals!"

"Yes, well this is all very interesting," Toad interrupted, "but don't we have a game to fin—"

" _Not now, Toad!_ " both Rat and Mole chorused. Rat carefully lowered himself back into his seat, not aware until then he'd risen onto his feet, and asked faintly, "Moley, have you been considering our time together a courtship all this time?"

"Haven't you?" Mole asked back.

Rat floundered, not wanting to lie but also not entirely sure what the truth was either. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't think I needed to? _You're_ the one who asked me to stay with you, and I thought: _kinda forward but he seems nice, let's give it a go, maybe this is just how Riverbankers are_ — I didn't think I needed to ask what _you_ had initiated."

"But that's not—" Rat hesitated, suddenly very aware that this discussion was being eavesdropped by no fewer than three very nosy animals. "Oh hang it all," he muttered, and he clambered down off the raised referee seat. "Let's finish this discussion elsewhere."

"Hey, what about our game?" Toad demanded.

"Mole forfeits, don't you, Moley?"

"Do I? Oh, right. Yes, I do."

Rat clapped Toad on the shoulder just a shade too forceful to be genuine well-wishing. "Congratulations, Toady, you won."

"Yes, very good game," Mole added loyally.

"Did I? Well, I mean of course I won; I'm a natural at squash—"

Rat hauled Mole away before Toad could finish his self-congratulatory speech, leaving Mrs Otter and Portia as the amphibian's reluctant audience.

Portia leant over to her mother and whispered, as best she could with the height difference, "I thought Mr Mole and Mr Rat were already together?"

Mrs Otter sighed. "They are. They just haven't realised it yet."

x

Curbing the instinct to run far, _far_ away from this whole emotional disorientation, Rat came to a halt alongside Toad Hall's jetty, where the sound and smells of the river grounded him in stable, sure things.

"So," Mole said, "I'm guessing this means moving in with someone _isn't_ a universal way of beginning a relationship."

"No."

"Oh."

Rat sat down on the edge of the jetty, allowing his toes to brush the river's surface. After a moment, Mole joined him.

"Do... do you want me to move out?" Mole asked.

"What? No."

"It's just, I thought, with the way you were acting about this..."

"I'm just surprised."

A silence settled between them as they both considered their situation, but — regardless of everything — it continued to be a familiar, comfortable silence. A kingfisher flashed past and both animals smiled as it brought back memories of their first meeting.

"Ratty," Mole finally said, "what _exactly_ did you think was going on between us?"

 _Something not quite friendship and not quite romance_ , Rat's mind echoed. Aloud, he said, "I was never quite sure. But I'm happy. Does anything really need to change?"

"Change?" Mole repeated with a laugh. "Why would it need to change?"

"Well, if we're a couple—"

"If we're a couple, then I suppose we'd do things like get invited to places together and co-sign our Christmas cards and look after the other when they're sick and share a home." Mole looked at Rat with a raised eyebrow. "Or are those things that Riverbank couples don't do?"

There was a beat. "Oh," Rat said.

" _Oh_ indeed," Mole echoed with a laugh. He leant against Rat and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "How long have you been worrying about this?"

"Since meeting your mums."

Rat wasn't looking, but he felt Mole's eyebrows rise again. "I took you to meet my parents and it never occurred to you that I might consider us a couple?"

"Foolishly, I expected us to have discussed it beforehand," Rat said, but without any real biting sarcasm. "Just... if I'm about to do anything that will accidentally get us married in underground society's eyes, let me know first, promise?"

Mole chuckled. "Promise."


End file.
